Nate Diaz Talks Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier And Jake Paul
Nate Diaz hasn’t fought since losing to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244, but he plans to stay active and compete up to four times in 2021.
In an interview with ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, Diaz shared his views on the recent UFC 257 main event between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, revealed that he is interested in fighting ‘The Diamond’ and Charles Oliveira, and explained why he decided to respond to Jake Paul’s callout.
Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2
At UFC 257, Poirier shocked the world by handing McGregor his first TKO loss in MMA. Diaz, who is one of the few people who has stopped the Irishman, said that his two-time opponent has the habit of making the same mistake.
“I think he f***ed up more than Dustin did anything good,” Diaz said. “I think it was all a big joke. He was switching up, and playing the nice guy. I think it was less of Dustin doing anything great, and Conor f***ing up. He was landing shots and it looked in the bag to me but he still makes the same mistakes he always has. [He made the same mistakes] against me, and then he did it against [Floyd] Mayweather, he did the same against Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and then against Dustin, he tried to push the pace, and went in too hard like he had it in the bag. He f***ed up.”
Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira
Diaz and Poirier were scheduled to compete at UFC 230 but the fight was scrapped. With the Louisiana native on a two fight win streak since losing his title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, Nate believes now is the time to rebook the fight. However, he’s not prepared to drop back down to lightweight for it.
“Now is the time to fight, for sure,” Diaz said. “We should have fought a long time ago. But that’s a fight I would like at 170 [pounds]. I am done fighting at 155. I would probably fight at 170 or 165, or 185, not 155. That’s a dead division, and I own it already.”
If he gets his desired fight with Poirier, Diaz warned that he isn’t going to be as nice as McGregor was during the lead up to UFC 257.
“I’m not gonna play f***ing nice guy like Conor McGregor just did with him,” Diaz stated. “Conor just walked him right in for the taking. I think a fight with me would be more real, a more serious situation for him. I don’t think he could sleep with that.”
Diaz also said that he is open to fight Charles Oliveira, who is on an eight-fight win streak at lightweight. But as with Poirier, he has no intention of fighting him at lightweight.
“That’s the guy right there,” Diaz said. “I’ll fight that guy. I like the winners. I’m trying to fight the guys who are winning.”
Jake Paul Callout
In recent months, YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul has called out a number of UFC fighters, including Diaz, who responded to his callout by warning the entertainer of dire consequences.
Diaz explained that while most of the fighters Paul has called out have remained silent, he decided to take it upon himself to tell the 24 year old to ‘shut up’.
“He was just talking some serious fighting words to – he was talking to Conor, right? But when I said something, it was because he was talking about Conor,” Diaz said. “I was like, ‘Oh, they’re some real fighting words for a guy who has already signed to fight in a real fight and you’re challenging him to a boxing match with fighting words.’ And no one’s gonna speak up, no one did. And even Conor probably didn’t want to give him no clout, he’s tuned in to what he’s doing. I was like, ‘Someone needs to tell this guy to shut up.’”
Paul is booked to fight former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren in an eight-round boxing bout on April 17th.
Staying Active
Diaz has only fought four times since 2016, but he plans on staying active in 2021, and is eyeing at least two fights this year.
“[I’ll fight] probably two minimum, four max times [in 2021],” Diaz said. “I haven’t talked to him (Dana White) yet. But you tell him that I’ll fight Poirier, Oliveira, at 170, 165, 190, 185.”
Who would you like to see Nate Diaz fight upon his return to the Octagon, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, Conor McGregor, or someone else?
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